Molly (1950 film)

Molly
Directed by	Walter Hart
Written by	Gertrude Berg N. Richard Nash
Produced by	Mel Epstein
Starring	Gertrude Berg Philip Loeb Eli Mintz Eduard Franz Larry Robinson Arlene McQuade
Cinematography	John F. Seitz
Edited by	Ellsworth Hoagland
Music by	Van Cleave
Production company	Paramount Pictures
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	December 23, 1950 (1950-12-23)
Running time	83 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Molly (also known as The Goldbergs) is a 1950 American comedy film directed by Walter Hart and written by Gertrude Berg and N. Richard Nash. It is based on Berg's radio and television dramedy The Goldbergs, which aired from 1929 to 1956. The film stars Gertrude Berg, Philip Loeb, Eli Mintz, Eduard Franz, Larry Robinson and Arlene McQuade. It was released on December 23, 1950, by Paramount Pictures. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Plot

Molly Goldberg welcomes an old beau to town, who is accompanied by his much younger fiancée. Molly invites her to join her evening music-appreciation classes, where the woman and the teacher exhibit a strong attraction to one another, leaving Molly to find ways to subtly intervene.

Cast

• Gertrude Berg as Molly Goldberg
• Philip Loeb as Jake Goldberg
• Eli Mintz as Uncle David
• Eduard Franz as Alexander 'Abie' Abel
• Larry Robinson as Sammy Goldberg
• Arlene McQuade as Rosalie Goldberg
• Betty Walker as Mrs. Bertha Kramer
• Sarah Krohner as Tante Elka
• David Opatoshu as Mr. Dutton
• Barbara Rush as Debby Sherman
• Peter Hansen as Ted Gordon
• Helen Brown as Mrs. Morris
• Edit Angold as Mrs. Schiller
• Josephine Whittell as Mrs. Van Nest
• Shari Robinson as Nomi
• Ernő Verebes as Mr. Mendell

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New York Times , critic Thomas M. Pryor wrote: "[T]he picture tells a simple story about wholesome, unsophisticated people who live a normal life and share all their joys and anxieties within the confines of our strongest bastion, the home. The Goldbergs, product of the Bronx, U. S. A., are the same sort of lovable, solid citizens on the screen as they have been on the radio for fifteen years and, more recently, on the stage and in television. ... A carping critic might observe that the film ... is no more than an animated transcription of a radio script, but why fly in the face of Molly's wonderful malapropisms?" ^[4]

Critic Philip K. Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "'Molly,'—as this frankly sentimental family saga is now called—is really one of the nicest pictures in months. Especially if you are receptive to a change of pace and willing to adapt yourself to a technique quite unabashedly that of the talkative TV screen. ... Molly's malapropisms gain, if anything, by issuing from the larger screen." ^[5]

References

1. "Molly (1951) - Overview". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2017-09-18.
2. Hal Erickson. "The Goldbergs (1950) - Walter Hart". AllMovie. Retrieved 2017-09-18.
3. "Molly". Afi.com. Archived from the original on 2014-04-03. Retrieved 2017-09-18.
4. Pryor, Thomas M. (1951-03-08). "The Screen in Review: The Goldbergs in Film Debut". The New York Times . p. 37.
5. Scheuer, Philip K. (1951-03-02). "Goldbergs as Film Folk Sentimentally Appealing". Los Angeles Times . p. 8, Part III.

External links

• The Goldbergs at IMDb